Islamabad, December 29: Pakistan on Friday confirmed that India has sought the extradition of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder Hafiz Saeed, the 2008 Mumbai attack mastermind and a UN-proscribed terrorist, who is wanted by Indian probe agencies in several terror cases. Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi on Friday said the request for extraditing Pakistan-based Saeed, along with certain documents, was sent to Islamabad recently. “We have conveyed a request along with relevant supporting documents to the government of Pakistan,” Bagchi told reporters in New Delhi. 26/11 Mumbai Terror Attack: India Sends Formal Communication to Pakistan To Extradite Lashkar-E-Taiba Chief Hafiz Saeed

Dawn.com reported that when it reached out for comments on the issue, Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said Pakistan received a request from the Indian authorities seeking Saeed's extradition in a “so-called money laundering case”. She added that “it is pertinent to note that no bilateral extradition treaty exists between Pakistan and India.” New Delhi does not have an extradition pact with Islamabad. However, people familiar with the matter said extradition is possible even in the absence of such a framework pact. Mumbai Terror Attack: Extradite Founder of Lashkar-E-Taiba and 26/11 Mastermind Hafiz Saeed, India Tells Pakistan

Saeed, a hardline cleric, was arrested in July 2019 by the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) following 23 first information reports registered against him and his close associates. He was given a combined sentence of 33 years imprisonment in April 2022 by an anti-terrorism court in two cases of terror financing. Saeed-led JuD is the front organisation for the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which is responsible for carrying out the 2008 Mumbai attack that killed 166 people, including six Americans.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)